Selling your home to be near a great school?

Discover five top catchment area catches – and how you can avoid them…

By Fred Jones, Upstix, Chief Operating Officer

Every year, thousands of families take the decision to move home so that they can be in catchment of their chosen state school. In fact, it’s one of the top reasons Upstix customers give us for wanting to sell their properties with us – fast!

But moving for a school catchment is not without its catches – from how long it could take to sell your current home, to how quickly properties near great schools may get snapped up.  

So, if you’re a parent planning a house sale for a school-shaped move, here are our top five catchment traps – and how to avoid them…

1) Check – and double check – the school catchment area

If you’re looking to move into the catchment of a great state school, make sure that you know what the school’s catchment area really is!  

Popular primary and secondary schools can attract fierce competition for places, which can mean that what classifies as “in catchment” may well get smaller and smaller every year. Some of the UK’s most popular state schools have reported catchment areas of less than 100 metres!

A variety of online tools are available that can offer you live catchment area ‘heat maps’ for schools. These can help you narrow down the specific area you’ll need to move to for the chance of a place at your preferred school.

2) Act fast to beat the catchment crowds

Be mindful that when you’re looking to move into a catchment area, you may well need to act fast. As you can imagine, properties near popular schools get snapped up at speed as parents compete for a place in a prime location.  

Our data shows that, from start to finish, it takes an average of 206 days to sell a property within England's top 20 primary school catchments. But of course, the best properties tend to quickly move to ‘Under Offer’, thanks to highly motivated mums and dads.  

Sign up to local estate agents to get a heads-up on new listings – and make sure you’ve got everything in place to move fast when you find the right property, from hatching a plan to sell your current home quickly, to getting your finances ready for your new one.

3) Do your research – the speed of house sales in catchment areas can really vary

While 206 days to sell a property within England's top primary school catchments is an average figure, it’s worth being mindful that how fast you need to move as a buyer will really depend on where you are buying.  

Homes in the catchment of great schools can move at very differing paces – with as much as two and a half months between the fastest and the slowest, according to our data.  

The fastest selling primary school catchment is for St James’ Roman Catholic Primary School in Orpington, with a sale time of just 170 days, compared to the slowest of 247 days for Abacus Belsize Primary School in London.  

Speak to local estate agents to understand just how quickly you may need to act. And in the meantime, check out our handy table below to get a sense of the sale times in England's top 20 primary school catchments.

4) Understand the admissions rules for your chosen school

In recent years, many schools have been tightening up their admissions criteria to prevent parents from playing the system. For example, living temporarily with friends or relatives in catchment while they make their application, or renting a small property near their school of choice whilst they own a family home further away.  

Make sure you read your chosen school’s criteria so that you don’t get caught out. If you’re buying a second property in a school catchment, for instance, they may well ask you to prove that you have really been living there! Equally, if you own two properties concurrently, it could well create questions you’ll need to be prepared to answer.

5) Can’t sell your property fast enough? Make sure you have a Plan B

If you have an existing property to sell before you make your school move, there’s a risk this could hold up the process, which can be lengthy, complicated and costly.  

So, if you’re highly motivated to move, especially to meet the next annual admissions deadline, make sure you have a Plan B in place.  

At Upstix, our instant cash offer is helping a growing number of parents who find themselves with school catchment challenges to sell their current properties in just 7 days.  

Find out more and get started today! Get an instant cash offer

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Property sale times in the catchment areas of England’s Top 20 State Primary Schools

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